Airlines are constantly trying to outdo each other, whether it be with high-in-the sky culinary collaborations, irreplaceable in-flight amenities, or a crew that goes the extra mile. But at the end of the day, which airlines are actually, consistently viewed as the best by the consumer? The results are in.

In its annual study of North American carriers, global marketing information firm J.D. Power and Associates surveyed passenger satisfaction based on seven criteria, from most important to least: costs and fees; in-flight services; boarding, deplaning and baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservations. Southwest Airlines took the top slot among low-cost carriers, with an index score of 807 out of 1,000—the most of any airline in any category—marking the airline's first time atop the rankings. Southwest leapfrogged JetBlue Airways, which came in first place among low-cost carriers the previous 11 years, despite JetBlue's improvement to 803 this year from 790 points in 2016. Southwest improved by 18 points, from its 789 score in 2016, to set the pace this year.

As for traditional carriers, for the 10th consecutive year, Alaska Airlines came out on top, with an index score of 765, improving from its 751 score in 2016. Delta Airlines took the second slot with a score of 758, improving from a score of 725 last year.

In a time when airport brawls and passenger mistreatment grab headlines, the big surprise in the study comes from the rising tide of satisfaction among all airlines. As the study notes, overall satisfaction with the airline industry increased by a "significant 30 points to 756 (on a 1,000-point scale), continuing a trend of steady performance increases that began in 2013." Among the improvements, passengers saw average American ticket prices decrease by 8.5 percent, leading to satisfaction among cost and fees to their highest levels since 2006. In addition, better on-time performance, historically low lost bag and bump rates, and improved flight crew scores painted a rosier picture of domestic travel in 2016 than the loss of legroom and introduction of "basic economy" fares would ever suggest.

Even so, Michael Taylor, travel practice lead at J.D. Power, suggested the airline industry still has plenty of room to improve.

“Airlines still rank among the bottom tier of most service industries tracked by J.D. Power, far lower than North American rental car companies or hotels," he said.

Hey, some progress is better than no progress. Fly with it while you can.